Major funding for MeyGen’s next tidal array

Grant funding worth €20.3 million from the European Commission has been announced for a second array of tidal turbines as part of the MeyGen project in the Pentland Firth.

The funding is for the DEMOTIDE project to design, build and operate a 6 megawatt (MW) turbine array, MeyGen Phase 1B, in the Inner Sound off the coast of Caithness.

Atlantis Resources, the company leading the MeyGen initiative, said construction of the array – also known as Project Stroma – will begin later this year, with first power expected in 2018.

It will be built adjacent to the existing 6MW MeyGen Phase 1A project, which delivered first power to the grid in November last year.

Test programmes at the Orkney-based European Marine Energy Centre played an important role in the development of the four turbines selected for the initial project.

The DEMOTIDE consortium consists of:

Leading technology supplier Marine Current Turbines (an Atlantis company), which is based in the UK.DEME, comprising DEME Blue Energy and GeoSea, a world leader in marine operations and owner of a versatile fleet of construction vessels based in Belgium;

INNOSEA, an independent engineering firm based in France which provides technical expertise and multidisciplinary engineering services to the marine renewable energy industry.

Queen’s University Belfast, which has been at the forefront of marine renewable energy research for over 30 years.

The DEMOTIDE project will demonstrate the technical and commercial viability of drilled foundation systems and larger rotor diameter turbines, further de-risking the industry and providing a robust path to significant cost reduction in the European tidal power sector.

“MeyGen is the world’s most high profile tidal stream project and we are delighted to be working with the European Commission and this world leading consortium of marine renewable energy experts to ensure that Europe remains at the forefront of tidal power knowledge creation.

“This project will help the tidal stream industry demonstrate reductions in the price per unit of electricity, by increasing the energy yield per pound of investment. DEMOTIDE will set tidal on a path to cost parity with offshore wind by 2020.”

Lead project investigator for Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), Dr Shane Donohue, said: “We are delighted to be part of the DEMOTIDE project, which has the potential to transform the tidal energy industry through demonstrations of the technical and commercial feasibility of tidal energy systems.

“QUB will be involved with monitoring of the system’s performance and will ensure that DEMOTIDE’s findings are widely disseminated.”